Katie Shepard is, in no particular order, a fangirl, a gamer, a bankruptcy lawyer, and a romance author. Born and raised in Texas, she frequently escapes to Montana to commune with the trees and woodland creatures, resembling a Disney princess in all ways except age, appearance, and musical ability. When not writing or making white-collar criminals cry at their depositions, she enjoys playing video games in her soft pants and watching sci-fi shows with her husband, two children, and very devoted cat.
Kristen Lepionka (she/her) writes queer stories about smart women in tough spots, including the award-winning Roxane Weary private investigator series and the forthcoming One of Those Girls (Minotaur). She likes: telling stories, inclusivity, cats, tattoos, iced coffee, film noir, museums, DIY, looking at stars, sunflowers, and hot sauce. She lives with her partner and two cats in Columbus, Ohio.
Tara Gold is a high school librarian in Durham, NC. She has a PhD in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she researched adolescent literacy practices on BookTube, and a master's in Library and Information Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Gold has dabbled in book blogs, book Tumblr (Booklr), Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTok. She has also served K-12 schools as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and student teacher supervisor.
Mary Frances Burns, Librarian Emeritus
David McNally is the Adult Services Librarian Supervisor at the Beachwood Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, where he has worked for the past 12 years. He leads two monthly book discussions, one in-person and one virtual. He spent the prior 17 years working in children’s services at three different CCPL branches, as well as the Lakewood Public Library. David graduated from Kent State with his MLIS in 2000. He also attended Baldwin-Wallace College where he obtained a BA in Business Administration.
Kate Merlene is the Adult Services Librarian Supervisor at Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Orange Branch, where she has been a longtime, passionate advocate for connecting people with their next great read. She leads three monthly book discussions and annual deep-dive reader’s series with her colleague Dave McNally. She has moderated fiction panels for Library Journal’s Virtual Day of Dialog, and is part of CCPL’s author event team. She writes Library Journal’s daily column Book Pulse, which provides current title, author, and media information for librarians who buy and recommend books.